Capítulo 1207: Chapter 227: North Hill Rest, Unfinished Business (2/2)
Xiao Lao San prides himself on having seen the world.
One night, after drinking too much, he went out to relieve himself and witnessed a Jianghu person fighting in an alley, blood spilling with every blow. Although he was frightened to the point of weak legs that day, he began to call himself a Jianghu person afterward.
He thought he had seen murder, so what else was there he hadn’t seen?
But he never imagined a scene like this.
That heavy bag indeed contained a head, but it wasn’t the sheep’s head he longed for to cook and eat—it was a blood-soaked head with disordered hair, eyes fiercely open, eyebrows wild, like weeds growing extravagantly on a prairie.
Pale skin tightly stretched over prominent and emaciated cheekbones, ghostly sharp. It stared straight ahead, chilling like a reaper.
Even as a dead man, it terrified the surrounding n, who usually were boastful and provocative, crying out and fleeing in panic.
Xiao Lao San hesitated for a mont, then quickly closed the bag tight, his heart pounding madly. Fortunately, a group of people crowded around him, so no one noticed he was holding a huge head in his hands—fear made his fingers clutch it tight, turning them white.
How could it be a head?
Perhaps in his sheer terror, his movents were too big, and sothing square at the top and diamond-shaped below fell from the bag, hitting the ground with a thud.
Xiao Lao San hesitated for a mont, then suddenly squatted down to pick it up, his fingers trembling constantly. Only when he held it did he realize it was familiar—he had seen it many tis recently; it was a Token from the Great Wilderness Stronghold.
In his extre panic, he failed to notice the crouched tiger and leopard, and a giant number seven on the back of the token.
He just gripped the two items tightly, like a stone sculpture in shock. After a while, his usually quick mind, which liked to take risks, began to turn again.
Looking at the head and then the token, a ridiculous and bold idea appeared in his mind.
Could this be the head of a fierce bandit from the Great Wilderness Stronghold? And his token?
Could it be exchanged for Gold?
He struggled in his mind no longer than a gambler would take to place a bet, gritted his teeth fiercely, and under the shocked calls of many people nearby, swiftly stood up and walked towards the wide-open gate of the Arrest Bureau.
Relying on acquaintances there whom he flirted with tirelessly, he timidly approached the table of an official in the Arrest Bureau. The official looked typical of those considered wise in the eyes of the local Parthians, with bright eyes and two thin black mustaches, calm and unhurried.
Xiao Lao San felt his courage wane a bit. He intended to proudly claim the token was his acquisition, but within a few words, the official coaxed the truth out of him. Upon hearing Xiao Lao San obtained the token from a man with a cloak, the official couldn’t help but laugh.
Putting down his pen, leaning back, fingers interlocked, he smiled:
“Soone gave it to you?”
Xiao Lao San shyly nodded and said:
“He asked for information, and I told him it’s a Jianghu tradition…”
The official laughed again and said:
“Jianghu tradition? You, a street corner ruffian, count as a Jianghu person?”
“Haven’t you thought about why he would give you this thing?”
Xiao Lao San awkwardly asked: “Why?”
The official tapped the table and said:
“An outsider, an outsider, hah, those few young heroes who co for rewards usually need to collaborate with ten or so people, bringing dozens of tokens at once.”
“Don’t assu the bandits of the Great Wilderness Stronghold are like wild rabbits jumping out one by one. I’ll tell you today; these well-trained bandits gather in groups of at least thirteen, and it’s normal to have thirty or forty.”
“Do you think that person alone cut down more than twenty people, then casually picked a token from among them? And then handed you this ‘pleasing’ choice? Hmm?”
Xiao Lao San shrank his neck and said:
“Maybe…”
The official chuckled, his gaze filled with pity directed at Xiao Lao San, saying:
“Think harder; perhaps you were just set up by a fraud, a forgery-maker, who planned to co here for the reward?”
The ribs-thin Xiao Lao San shyly nodded:
“Yes, it’s right there in front of the man with the cloak.”
The official snapped his fingers, squinting as he leaned back in his chair, filled with satisfaction:
“That’s it.”
“That man is a fake Jianghu fraud, scared upon seeing another forger severely punished, given my discerning eyes. He thus handed it to you, letting you take the fall for him.”
“Ah, let tell you, one must use one’s head, and not fill it only with straw.”
The tall Arrest Bureau enforcer nearby saw Xiao Lao San still sowhat agitated, saying:
“This Jianghu crook is also timid, forging only one token despite the act.”
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